Series socket with removable elements



May 14, 1935. R. w. coRwlN SERIES SOCKET WITH REMOVABLE ELEMENTS Filed May 5, '195o Patented May 14, 1935 unirsi: of s Aar s' SERIES SOCKET WITHM-REMOVABE? ELEMENTS Raymmaw. cqrwiignaaiibnem; N; Jl, assignor to Benjamin' Electric Manufacturing Company, Des" Plaines, Illl, a corporation' of'lillinois Application May 5,` 1930," Serial No. 449,781

Claims'. This invention relatesftoelectric light sockets and has special reference to electric light sockets having removable elements;-

More particularly, thislinvention relates to'an 5 electric light socket` having a base comprising a plurality of sections with the wiring terminals on one section and the side and center contacts attached to other of the sections Vand electrically connected to the wiring terminals. Contact plates are attached' to both the sideand center contactsv which; when the socket isassembled, engage contacts carried in the outer sections Akwitlithe wiring terminals and connected therewith; Ari-object of' this invention socketY comprising a' plurality is` to provide a of sections with the wiring terminalsattached to one section andone or more of Ythe* other sections carrying the lamp contacts so that they other cause without necessitating disconnecting the lead wiresfrom-the wiringv terminals.

Where several lamps are connected inseries in a circuit, suchl as a 600- voltV circuit, the

lamp contacts ofdamaged due to an arc being formedbetween the socket contacts and the lamp'contacts, particularly between the center contacts. In the ordinary socket when such damage occurs it is necessary to disconnect'the wires lfrom the wiring terminals before` dismantling the socket andreplacingrthe damaged parts. In asocket emboclyingl the present invention, if a contact Y becomes damaged, it is merely necessary to replace thesection of the socket carrying the contactwith a new section without disconnecting the wiring terminals fromthe wires or Ythe socket from the fixture supportingv member to 40 which it is attached.

The sections of the present socket are held 1n assembled position `by two screws so that to replace a damaged section it isonly necessary to remove the two screws, replace the section with anew one and replace the screws, which all may,` be. doneV while the lead wires are connected to theY wiring terminals ofthe socket.

Thus, the more frequently damaged and leastY expensive parts may be easilyand inexpensively.

59 replaced. l Y

A'further object of thevpresent invention` is toA provide a socket in whichthe possibilityr of arcing is reduced to aminimu'ml 'and 'any arcing;A that `might occuris confined tothe lamp cavity.

55 1 Th`ewiring`termin`als to whichr the 4lead wires may be removed 201. andrreplaced in the event the contacts attached theretov become damaged by arcing or from any the socket are frequently- `each-Qina'olL of"'insulating'material` l l Y, screws 5V are threaded into/terminal plates 6 55" are connected are so farI removed a1id` protelct'etl fromU the lamp contacts" that theris no possi? bility of the wiring.te'r'friinals."orv

A still :further object' of the present invention* is to provide asocketin' which the* wiring'- ter# minals are `Yprotected from thf'e'lieat'y causedibyl' section' which' separates th'e- Wiring? terminals from the lamp cavity isimadeof' heat-insulate" ingmaterial, and there is very littleairl circulaitonto c.

loe-carriedto the wiring terminals to `disssipate.l Further objects and advantages" of the'p'resent invention will be" more from the following '.detailedgde'scrption, together with tlfe'A accompanying drawing; in Whiclilatter Figure'` 11' isa'n elevational View' of" a socket embodying the present inventionattachedto a iixture supportingvmember; Y 3 Fig; 2- is` af'vtop' plan view-v of thev socket andV cushion memberA attached thereto ,taken`v on* the" line 2 2 of Figure 1;

Fig;` 3 fisa central vertical lcrosssectional'view of a 'socket' embodying' the' present" invention;

Fig. 4is` a bottom -plfan View ofthe u`p'per`sec'-A tion of thesocket taken lon'.tlfifeflinefll-lftof Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the middle'sectionl of thesocket andAA Figi 6 is a topfplan viewof-the bottom'sectioni of the socketvshowing'the shell contact and' con-5' tactmplate connected therewith:

Referring more the presentA construction comprises a socketjl having a top section or base 2,` a middle `'sec- Thus the possibilit fj 1oI readilyv apparent? 30 taken on the line 5LB ofFiga' 3;'- 45 particularly to the drawing;

Y without disconnecting lead wires for connection with the terminals 5 are inserted from the top of the top section 2 through holes 9b therein positioned atmeach end of the groove 9a and then connected to the wiring terminals by means of the wiring terminal screws 5. 'I f Y n The middle-section or base 3 of the socket is preferably made of heat insulating material so as to prevent the heat in the lamp cavity from affecting the wiring terminals. This sectionv 3 carries a center contact 3 on the bottom thereof ancla contact blade I0 Von the top surface thereof. The'center contact 3 is substantially V- shaped, having arms Il` and l2 with a hole adjacentthe end of Varm ll. The contact blade l hasa threaded opening adjacent one end. A screw i3 is inserted through the opening in the arm Il of the center contact 9 up through a central opening 13a in the middle section 3 and is threaded into athreaded opening in the contact'blade l0 which lies in a groove provided therefor in the top Vof section 3.y The central opening i3d is only slightly larger than the size ofthe screw i3 so as to'prevent the heat in the lamp cavity from aifecting the wiring terminals.

When thus assembled the upright portion of y the contact blade i@ is adapted to engage one of theV spring-contacts carried in the upper section 2 of the socket, and the center contact secured to the middle section 3 extends partly downward to form a resilient contact.V

The bottom section or base 4 of the socket is Vin the nature of a ringhaving an opening in the center thereof in which is positioned a shell contact I4. Various types of bottom sections or bases may be used with the same upper sections orbases, depending upon the purpose for which the socket is toV be employed and they size of lamp to be used..` The shell contact I4 is crimped to a shell flange i3, for securing the shell contact I4 to the bottom section 4. A contact blade l6,-extending substantially straight upward, is attached to the shell iiange 15, being preferably formed integrally therewith. The shell flange is eyeletted to the bottom section 4 of the vsocket so that the contact-blade I6 ,will extend up through an opening IGa of substantially the same size as Ythe blade I6 and engage with the other spring contacta. i f Y The three sections of the socket, 2, 3 and 4, are held together .by means of screwsv l1, which areinserted from the bottom of section 4 and extend upl through .the middle section 3 and thread into threaded members permanently secured tothe top section 2. Thus, to remove either the middle section 3 or the bottom section 4, it is only necessary to remove the screw! I1, replace the section with` a new section and then replace the screws.

the wires from the wiring terminals.

Figure l shows the socket l assembled ina xture. vA reflector i8, having an annulariange I9 is positionedbetween the usual reflector securing flanges 20 and 2|,which iianges are fastened to a conduit22. The socket l is fastened All this may be done to a cushion member 23 cushion member is, in turn, attached to the fixture securing means comprising the conduit 22 and the flanges 20 and 2| by screws 25. When so attached, the xture is ready for use upon the insertion of a lamp.

As shown in Figure l it would entail a great deal of eiort to replace a damaged contact if it' were necessary to dismantle the whole xture in order to replace the damaged member. With the present invention such is unnecessary and any damaged member may be quickly replaced with a minimum effort.

In the claims where I have used the expression quick detachable contacts, it is to be understood as defining a contact having a quick detachable engagement and disengagement with respect to its cooperating contact blade.

While I have shown and described but one embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modiiications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, and,.therefore, I Wish to be limited only by the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: Y

l. An electric lighting fixture comprising three sections withone section lying between the other two, wiring terminals attached to one of the outer sections and connected to spring carrying said shell `contact and contact blade secured thereto may be detached from said socket without affecting the other two sections, and means for fastening ther-three sections together. Y

2. A high voltage series socket construction comprising a rst Vinsulating base portion having a pair of recesses therein, a pair of quick detachable contacts in said recesses, a second insulating base portion covering the contacts in said recesses, a center lcontact mounted on said second base portion, a blade mounted on said second base portion and electrically connected with said center contact extending into one of said recesses and engaging one of said quick detachable contacts, a third base portion, a shell contact mounted thereon, and a blade electrically connected with said shell contact, mounted on said third base portion, extending intoY the other of said-recesses `and engaging the other of said quick detachable contacts. y

3. A high voltage series socket construction comprising a first insulating base portion having a pair of recesses therein, a pair of quick detachable contacts in said recesses,V a second insulating base portion covering the contacts in said recesses, a center contact mounted on said second base portion, a bladefmounted on said second base portion and electrically connected with said center contact extending into one of said recesses and engaging one of said quick detachable contacts, a shell contact, said second base portion having a restricted blade passage therethrough, and a blade electrically through said restricted opening and extending by screws 24, and this ing terminals, respectively, said Wiring base having a pair of recesses therein for said contacts, respectively, an insulating cover member extending across said recesses, a center contact substantially outslde the cylindrical surface of the annular shell contact.

` 3 5. A high voltage series socket construction comprising a wiring base and contact member,

a pair of Wiring terminals mounted thereon, a pair of quick detachable contacts also mounted thereon in electrical connection With said Wiring 5 terminals, respectively, said wiring base having a pair of recesses therein for said contacts, respectively, an insulating cover member extending across said recesses, a center contact mount, 

